


Arisa Ichigaya's red string(s)

by SayaYamabuki



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, F/F, Soulmate/red string au, Will add tags as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 03:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14708045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SayaYamabuki/pseuds/SayaYamabuki
Summary: Arisa Ichigaya is still single at twenty-two years old and is looking to escape her old life. She finds a job at a bakery in a different neighborhood and doesn't hesitate to move.Once she arrives, she faces what feels like a whole different world full of possibilities. Perhaps, she will also find the one she's destined to be with....or two of them.





	Arisa Ichigaya's red string(s)

Usually, people would come into contact with their soulmate at a young age. Kids would become so fond of their new friend or neighbor, they suddenly spotted a red cord connecting their pinkies together. They’d be overjoyed and from that point onward, their marriage was basically already set in stone. And though it wasn’t rare to not spot a red string around your friend or lover until well into your teenage years, it still really sucked.

Arisa Ichigaya was one of those people. She hadn’t seen a string of fate yet at age twenty-two and was now starting to give up on finding romance at all. She had a short fling at the beginning of high school, but the cute girl eventually ended things because the cord between their pinkies was absent. Arisa had even lied to her, saying that she could see it and that she would just have to wait for a little for it to appear! But the girl refused to believe her and ended their relationship quickly.

It broke Arisa, and for a long time, until well into college, she didn’t want to try it with anyone anymore.

Arisa was a firm believer that fate could be changed, that fate _wasn’_ t set in stone. And if one worked hard enough, they could _force_ one of those red cords to form around their pinkies. However, Arisa also was a firm believer that people were too easily influenced, and that’s how she was still single even after all those years.

Here she was, walking through the streets of her new neighborhood. She had just moved into an apartment that was perhaps a bit too big for just herself and decided to explore the area a bit more than just a quick skim when she decided to rent in this town. She needed some time away from her current life. She was too plagued by her college life and how despicable it was. One-night stand after one-night stand, trying desperately to find that one person that either _didn’t care_ about the string or someone that had it. Either one of the two would be amazing, but of course, she wasn’t that fortunate.

The new neighborhood would be a fresh start, away from her past and responsibilities. She had found a job at a local bakery, which was apparently well-known and made a high profit, at least from what she could tell from the reviews and exterior pictures. She hadn’t actually seen the owner, but she had a job offer listed in the newspaper, and Arisa being the only one who still even read the newspaper, was one of the mere two applicants. Two days later, she got a call and started looking into apartments around the area that suited her needs, which just resulted in her getting an apartment that was way too big and spooky for her.

It wasn’t long until Arisa spotted the bakery in question, a mere 5-minute walk from her apartment. It wasn’t anything fancy, and it sure wasn’t going to put her high on the economic ladder, but at this point, she didn’t care much anymore. She just needed to be away from the town full of familiar faces and bad memories. And this bakery seemed to be a nice place to do that at.

Besides, nobody here would know, or care, about her background and popularity.

With history heaving on her mind, she pushed open the door to the bakery. She could at least meet the owner and have a word with her before she started work two days from now. What Arisa did not expect, however, was that the owner of the place was absolutely gorgeous.

One look and she was stunned by her appearance, though she was simply dressed in casual wear. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, with a yellow ribbon holding it together. She was wearing a pink apron with a  cute cat on it over a hoodie combined with some frilly shorts. Arisa wanted to almost call her out on her poor sense of fashion combination, but in a weird way, it seemed to suit her. The way the bangs stuck to her sweaty face was messy, but it made Arisa’s heartbeat raise either way. She was pretty and she wasn’t even trying to be. In a way, Arisa felt slightly jealous that it took her almost an entire morning to even get her hair right while this girl looked beautiful covered in sweat and flour.  

One extra bonus point was that the girl seemed rather muscular. Her biceps were on full display and Arisa nearly swooning over them. It didn’t seem like she gained such a body by simply carrying bags of flour for years.

The girl looked up at her and Arisa nearly got lost in those ocean-blue eyes. She quickly shook her head and stepped further into the bakery. She was beginning to understand why the locals praised it so much. The atmosphere was homey and no matter in what part of the store you were, the scent of freshly-baked bread would always be surrounding you. _Besides the girl is really cute too…_

“Hello! Welcome to Yamabuki bakery, how may I help you?” The girl spoke.

“Ah, hi. I’m supposed to be starting work here soon. My name is Ichi-“

“Ichigaya Arisa, right? Though I have to say, the photo you send me doesn’t resemble you all that much. You’re a lot cuter, heh.”

Arisa couldn’t help but blush at that comment. When was the last time she had been called cute? _I swear this girl…_

“It was my first-year college photo. My hair was a lot shorter back then. I only recently grew it out again…..” Arisa said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck and averting her gaze.

“I see.” The girl made her way over to Arisa by hopping the counter instead of walking around like a normal person. Arisa raised her eyebrows in shock. Oh god, had she met another weirdo? It sure felt like it.

“Well, my name is Yamabuki Saya. Owner of Yamabuki bakery for the past three years now! I’m looking forward to working with you!” She said, sticking out her hand.

Arisa could see a numerous amount of blisters and calluses on her hand. She wondered if working at the bakery for a while would do the same thing to her own two hands. Then again, it seemed like Saya was the hard-working type whereas she liked to laze off at times.

Arisa took Saya’s hand in her own and shook it. Saya gave her a confident smile before letting go and letting her hand fall to her side. She seemed nice enough, but Arisa felt like she could be the type to hide some kind of depressive episode. Though Arisa wouldn’t be one to judge her for that, after all, that would be hypocritical.

“I didn’t expect to see you until Monday, but you can have a look around in the back I guess? If you want to. Orientation isn’t until you start work officially.” Arisa was a little curious, but in all honesty, she still had other things to do like buying groceries and unpacking more boxes.

“Ah, that’s okay. I’ll come around Monday. I do have a question though.”

“And that would be…?” Saya crooked her head and Arisa felt herself staring into her eyes again. The thing that snapped her out of it was the soft grin forming on Saya’s lips.

“….Are you the only one that works here?”

“Hmm? Yup! I’ve worked at this place since I was a kid. I took over the shop when I turned nineteen.”

 _That means she probably didn’t go to college._ “W-Well for someone that runs it all by herself, you’ve done an amazing job up until now. I can see why you’re so popular with the locals.”

Saya chuckled and giggled a little. Arisa hated how pretty she looked while doing so, and had to avert her gaze to hide the embarrassment in her eyes. She was afraid Saya looked right through her though, and when looking back, Saya’s grin confirmed it.

Luckily, the door opened and the bell rung, freeing Arisa from the embarrassment prison. “Well. If that’s all, I’ll get back to work now. Lots of customers waiting! I’ll see you Monday, Arisaaa-chan~”

Saya hopped over the counter again. Yet, it all seemed to be in slow-motion. The whole world seemed to stand still for a second, leaving only Arisa as the one unaffected by time. Yet, she was stunned and only looking at one thing…

_Red…a Red string…_

When Arisa blinked, everything was back to normal. She looked down at her hands to see the cord had disappeared from her pinkie, and Saya didn’t seem to have it anymore either. _Was all of that just a hallucination? Grandma’s stories always said the string would be permanently visible….Then why is this different? Hallucination, that must be it._

With mixed thoughts, Arisa pushed out of the bakery and back onto the street. This town was getting interesting already…

**Author's Note:**

> This was gonna be longer but I wanted to get this out before Saya's bday ended! Happy bday Saya!


End file.
